Lenny Cooke

Lenny Cooke

In 2001, Lenny Cooke was the most hyped high school basketball player in the country, ranked above future greats LeBron James, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Carmelo Anthony. In an era when high school stars were forgoing college hoops in favor of the potential multi-million dollar contracts promised in the NBA draft, Cooke was supposed to be the next superstar. But over a decade later, while his peers are taking home MVP awards and championship trophies, Cooke has never played a minute in the NBA. What went wrong? With incredible access to Cooke’s story as it unfolded over the past decade, the Safdie brothers follow Cooke from his rundown home in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to the New Jersey suburbs where he spent his high school career, through to the present day, with the friends and family who shared in his dreams and aspirations. Lenny Cooke is a quintessentially American story about dreaming big, the fickle nature of sports celebrity, and unfulfilled destiny.